Neither purpose of her visit to the state capital had been particularly well achieved. Zhù Ying nonetheless set off on time at the beginning of the seventh month and headed back to Fulu County. It had been several months since she had last been present. She had no idea how Su Mingluan and the others were getting along. By the arrangement they had established, the girls were supposed to come down from the mountain for half of each month to study — but for the past several months, Zhù Ying herself had not been in the county seat, and without her there to personally supervise Su Mingluan’s coursework, she had no way of knowing whether Su Mingluan and her study companions had made their way through all sixteen of the literacy monument texts on their own.

On the return journey, Zhù Ying travelled faster than usual. The first day she covered a hundred and twenty li, resting that night at a post station. She estimated two more days would bring her to the county seat. Xiao Wu had another opportunity to observe just how fast Zhù Ying could move when she set her mind to it. When they stopped on the second night, he drew hot water for her bath and then collapsed face-down onto his own bed with barely a splash of water on his own face.

He was in the middle of sleeping when Xiao Wu jolted awake. He threw a robe over his shoulders, climbed out of bed, and pulled open the door. The courtyard was full of vague shifting shapes. The station lanterns hung from the eaves, and in their dim light he looked and recognized a face: “Old Hou?”

Hou Wu and the post station attendant both turned at the same moment. The door to the main room was also pulled open, and Zhù Ying — fully and neatly dressed — stood in the doorway and asked: “What’s the matter?” Not a trace of drowsiness in her voice.

Hou Wu said: “Magistrate! There’s a situation!”

Zhù Ying said: “Come inside. Xiao Wu, get some water.”

Xiao Wu acknowledged this and dragged the post station attendant off to the kitchen to fetch water, scooping up a bowl of rice along the way, and calling down to the kitchen to stir-fry a squash or something for a quick meal. In stations where officials were lodging, the stove was kept burning through the night. The cook, rubbing his eyes, slung together a vegetable dish in a daze; by the time the dish was finished, the cook had woken up properly and asked: “Would the magistrate like some fish or meat as well?”

Xiao Wu said: “It’s not for the magistrate — I’m hungry. Whatever you have is fine. Thank you.” He pressed a few copper coins into the cook’s hands.

The cook put together two more cold dishes and fried up a plate of eggs. Xiao Wu said: “That’s plenty, that’s plenty.” He packed everything into a food box, carried it in one hand with the teapot in the other, and returned to the main room.

Inside the main room, Zhù Ying’s expression was grave. Hou Wu stood to one side mopping the sweat from his face. On the table sat an empty teacup beside a small damp ring of water.

Xiao Wu hurried in: “I’m sorry to be so slow — the tea’s gone cold, Old Hou. Have a sip of this first. You’ll stay the night with me? I brought back some food too.” He poured a bowl of tea and set it in front of Hou Wu.

Zhù Ying said: “That’ll do.”

Hou Wu said: “Magistrate, I’m not in a rush to eat — whatever plan you’ve come up with, tell me and I’ll ride straight back to send word.”

Zhù Ying said: “What’s the rush? You and Xiao Wu can settle in for the night, and tomorrow we’ll all ride back together. What would you be doing galloping around in the dark?”

“Yes…”

Xiao Wu led Hou Wu off to his own room, set the food box on the table, and said: “You eat first — let me get you some water. What’s going on?”

Hou Wu gradually unclenched a little. He dropped heavily into the chair at the table, scooped up a chopstick’s worth of food, and said with his mouth half full: “Something’s happened!”

“What?”

Hou Wu shoveled down rice and spoke in muffled spurts: “The first of the seventh month — market day — and the woman up the mountain came down to observe it. She’d heard the magistrate was returning and was planning to come back and resume her studies. On her way here she even passed through the Western Township trading post — said everything was normal, the words barely out of her mouth, word came from Zhao Feng over in Western Township — there’s been a death! You can imagine the luck she has! Administrator Guan told me to come and report immediately. Young Master Gu rushed to volunteer to come, but I took one look at him — he doesn’t know the roads, and he’s no fast runner either. He’d only be in the way. So I came instead.”

“What death?”

Hou Wu refilled his cup and gulped it down, then said: “Brigands came down from the mountain — dressed in those aboriginal mountain people’s clothes, riding horses, and charging right into the market. First they stabbed several major merchants, then they started slashing at everyone in sight!”

“What?!”

Hou Wu buried his face in the food again, then lifted it to wipe his mouth. He let out a long, satisfied belch and exhaled deeply. “Zhao郎君 and his men captured two of them. And then it would have been better not to have captured them at all!”

“What do you mean?” Xiao Wu asked, tidying away the remains of the meal.

Hou Wu said: “You know who they turned out to be? Slaves — and their master happens to be a distant kinsman of that Su girl, and also has some connection to the Zhao family by marriage. So what are they going to do now?”

“Ha! They’re the ones who asked to have the trading post opened, and now they’re smashing their own pot! The magistrate even said we should not drain them dry of their money or it would lead to trouble — she was being considerate of them! And this is how they behave in return?”

Hou Wu said: “I don’t know either. I’d guess they felt they weren’t getting enough benefit from it. Ten fingers are of different lengths — I’ve seen it before. When a family is divided against itself, one side wants to deal fairly with the court, while the other side wants to wreck the whole thing. Could be that cave chief himself can’t even control his own people? Tch! Then what was all that boasting about?”

Xiao Wu said: “The magistrate must have seen this coming when she made that alliance — we don’t need to worry about that. But right now — what do we actually do?”

The two of them exchanged a glance, and both felt a flicker of anxiety. They spent so much time at Zhù Ying’s side that they understood how much she valued her relations with the mountain peoples — it was meant to be one of her achievements. Everything had seemed to be going smoothly, and even a ready-made pillow for that drowsy moment had appeared when the Asu clan voluntarily sought to draw closer. And now this…

More troubled than even they were: Zhao Su and Su Mingluan and those gathered with them.

Su Mingluan and Zhao Su rode through the night to reach Western Township. Even at that hour, Zhao Feng was still awake.

The two of them pressed him for details at once.

Su Mingluan said: “When I came down from the mountain everything was fine! Who on earth would dare do this to me at a time like this?” She came down from the mountain for half of each month, and the first and fifteenth were market days — she timed her arrivals and departures to pass through and observe the market. These arrangements had been carefully planned, and nothing had ever gone wrong before.

Zhao Feng’s face was grim: “I knew there would be troublemakers. I was watching for people cheating at the stalls, short-changing buyers, passing off inferior goods — I was not prepared for someone to resort to open blades!”

Zhao Su said in an icy voice: “All these days gone by, and I thought they had finally understood what was at stake. Instead they were biding their time, waiting for an opportunity!”

Su Mingluan said: “Uncle by marriage — who were the killers? Whose households did they belong to? Has my aunt gone up the mountain to report to my father?”

Zhao Feng said: “Your aunt has already gone up. As for the men I captured — they are all slaves! And their masters, you would know them all. Ah-Da knows them especially well — it’s Ahun, you know him. He and our family used to have frequent dealings.”

Zhao Su said: “What exactly happened? Father, how did you handle it?”

Zhao Feng said: “I have the men locked in the concealed room here in our house, bound, with someone watching them — I’ve made sure they can’t take their own lives. One got away.”

Zhao Feng, as the representative of local gentry and a de facto hidden market supervisor, was required to be present at every market day. He had power and influence in the local area, but even so, when trouble broke out at the trading post he had still been a few steps behind. By the time he got his men to subdue the attackers, one merchant was already dead on the spot, three others were seriously wounded. Beyond that, a number of other people had sustained lighter or heavier injuries. He had then arranged for their wounds to be treated and the remaining merchants calmed — it had been a frantic scramble.

Su Mingluan said: “I want to see what kind of dog has the nerve to do this!”

Zhao Feng said: “Come with me.”

The party went to the concealed room to see the captives. “Concealed room” was a polite term — it functioned more like a cell, four walls with no windows, only a narrow door letting in a thin wedge of light. Inside were several wooden posts and from the rafters hung a tangle of iron chains and rope. Two men had been strung up from the rafters, the flesh of their backs already stripped into long ribbons of bloody welts, their clothes shredded.

Zhao Feng said: “Your aunt has already questioned them once.”

Su Mingluan took up a whip and stepped forward, demanding: “Speak! Who sent you to kill? Why did you kill them? What were your orders?”

The hanging men said nothing. Zhao Feng’s men lit several more torches, and in the blaze of firelight Su Mingluan looked more closely at the men’s faces — and her fury surged: “So it’s him!”

Zhao Feng had had his suspicions, and now those were confirmed. She had recognized them as slaves belonging to a cousin of her father — a man who had formerly been the one representing his settlement in dealings with Zhao Feng down in the valley, handling exchanges and the purchase of goods. One of the men strung from the rafters glanced up at her and lowered his head again. But Su Mingluan went quiet. She walked in a slow circle around him, and then suddenly asked: “Was there someone else who put you up to this?”

The man glanced at her again, and still said nothing.

Zhao Su said suddenly: “Tell us the truth and I will let you go — and I guarantee no one will find you.”

Su Mingluan glanced at him and implicitly endorsed his words. The man still didn’t speak. Zhao Su said: “Kill a man and you answer for it with your life — unless someone else put you up to it.”

The man refused to open his mouth no matter what. Su Mingluan called her attendants over and ordered a brutal beating, then: “Get the branding iron heated! Bring the heavy shears!”

Zhao Feng said: “Hold — don’t beat him to death. If the county magistrate returns and finds the man dead, it will look as though you killed him to silence him.”

Su Mingluan was seething with fury: “Then let the bastard live a few more days!”

Zhao Feng quietly ordered his men to keep close watch on the prisoners, then said: “Let’s go out. When it happened, there were many people present. Order was maintained — but some of the merchants still fled in panic. The county office will surely have gotten word by now. The county magistrate will be back soon. We need to think through what we’re going to say.”

Su Mingluan’s face was iron: “She already knows right now! How could she possibly not know!”

Zhao Su said: “Let’s speak outside.”

Outside the concealed room, Zhao Su said: “Little sister, you need to make a decision. Will you punish those responsible, or will you protect them? This man was actively sabotaging your interests. Leave him in place and he will continue to be a source of trouble. Punish him — and the short term will be harder for you, but once you get through it, the path forward will be smoother.”

Su Mingluan said: “I understand.”

Zhao Su said: “Good. First rest — you need to be well rested before you can handle this properly.”

Zhao Feng said: “Ah-Da is right, little sister. Think it over carefully. We won’t disturb you further.”

Father and son moved off to one side to speak privately, and they truly left Su Mingluan alone.

Su Mingluan felt a heaviness pressing on her chest. She had watched with her own eyes as relations with the valley below grew ever better, and she understood perfectly well that the court wanted from her a certain degree of “submission” — weighing it all out, she was coming out ahead. This time coming down the mountain, she had had another goal in mind: she had wanted to consult with Zhù Ying about how to grow wheat. The mountain soil was thin and poor — if they could produce one additional harvest per year, what a tremendous thing that would be!

She couldn’t help but feel admiration for Zhù Ying. Zhù Ying had said long ago that if all they had was trade, sooner or later their family’s resources would be drained dry. And events had proved Zhù Ying right — but because she had planned for this possibility from the beginning, the situation had not yet deteriorated too badly. She was also quite confident that Zhù Ying would be glad to teach her some cultivation methods, so that long-term trade could be sustained.

And now, before any new progress could be made, what had already been achieved might be thrown away entirely.

Even if Zhù Ying was willing, she alone could not be master of all things. A death had occurred. That was not something that could easily be smoothed over now.

Su Mingluan paced slowly back to her room.

Father and son, Zhao Feng and Zhao Su, moved briskly, and only when they had returned to Zhao Feng’s main room did their anxiety fully surface.

Zhao Feng said: “What in the world is to be done?! How do I explain this to the county magistrate?! Ah…”

Zhao Su said: “Don’t panic — the adoptive father is not an unreasonable person.”

“There has been a death! Everyone saw it — it cannot be concealed! Your Imperial Academy place…”

Zhao Su’s eye twitched. Zhù Ying was about to send him to the Imperial Academy — it was meant to be a new beginning. Zhao Su had looked forward to it with his whole heart. He understood as well that the role of “intermediary” between the two peoples had added considerably to his standing as a candidate. If the two sides fell into hostility — ha!

Zhao Su’s eyes reddened with fury.

Zhao Su forced himself to stay composed: “No matter what those maternal uncles do — a life demands a life in return. We cannot shield anyone from this! Father, the killers must not be handed over to the maternal uncles. This must go through the proper courts!”

Zhao Feng said: “I know. Alas — has the magistrate truly taken Gu Tong on as a student?”

Zhao Su said: “I imagine after sending me to the capital, she’ll need someone at her side.”

Zhao Feng rubbed his hands together: “Hmm, if he’s always hovering around her, I fear he may draw some of the magistrate’s attention away from you.”

Zhao Su said: “I am the one going to the capital.”

Zhao Feng sighed: “Whatever happens, we cannot let this affair interfere with good relations between us and the Su clan.”

None of them slept properly that night. The next morning they dispatched two separate parties — one to ride up the mountain road to intercept whatever message or messenger the cave chief Asu might send down, the other to wait along the road toward the county seat for word of Zhù Ying’s return.

Zhù Ying rose the next day at her usual hour, ate breakfast at her usual pace — no more, no less. When the meal was done, she sat for the customary two-quarter-hour rest before having horses prepared and setting off for Fulu County.

They rode hard the whole way, and reached Fulu County before dark. In the county office, Administrator Guan and his colleagues were anxiously awaiting Zhù Ying’s return. Cultivating relations with the “mountain people” was something Zhù Ying had driven entirely — Guan had little to do with it — yet if the chief official suffered, who could say the people below him wouldn’t suffer too?

They all sat there, wilted as soggy vegetables.

Administrator Guan sat in the county office gatehouse waiting in an agony of suspense. Every time he heard the sound of hooves, he lunged to his feet to run out and look. If it wasn’t Zhù Ying, he unloaded his anxiety on the horseman: “Dammit! Who gave you permission to gallop by the county office gates? Get him and give him twenty strokes!”

After this happened four times, not even a stray dog ventured near.

Then he heard hoofbeats again.

Administrator Guan lurched to his feet. This time it really was Zhù Ying. He ran forward and grabbed the bridle of her horse: “Magistrate — you’re finally back!”

Zhù Ying swung lightly off the horse and said: “What has happened that was so urgent? You couldn’t even explain it clearly in the message.”

Administrator Guan lowered his voice: “Young Master Zhao Su sent word…”

They had barely exchanged a few lines when Gu Tong swept in like a gust of wind: “Teacher!”

Zhù Ying said: “You’re not in school?”

Gu Tong grinned: “I was — school let out early today.”

Zhù Ying said: “All right. Go do something for me.”

“I’m ready! Just give the order, Teacher!”

Zhù Ying said: “Go with the others and invite the local gentry to come and discuss matters.”

“Yes!” Gu Tong answered and went off with Tong Bo and the other county runners to deliver the notices to each household.

Zhù Ying walked inside with Administrator Guan. The chief clerk and more officials came forward to meet her. Zhù Ying asked: “How is the market supervisor’s injury? Has a physician seen to it?”

Administrator Guan said: “Zhao Feng had him treated where he is. He took a blade to the chest — he shouldn’t be moved. His life is not in immediate danger.”

Zhù Ying nodded: “How is it that Fulu County has never had a murder case before — and you’re all acting so completely out of character with anxiety? What I’m seeing now is nothing like the usual disposition of this office!” Previously, the affair at Xie Liu Village had been met mostly with people tagging along to watch the excitement. Today the people clustered around her all looked frantic.

Administrator Guan said: “If relations with the mountain people truly collapse, the brigands up there could harass us at any moment of any day. We’d been so glad finally to have some peace…”

Zhù Ying said: “Hmm, that actually reminds me — the Su clan is still not registered as ordinary subjects. Precisely what laws apply to them is something that genuinely needs to be sorted out.”

“What?”

Zhù Ying walked slowly to the smaller reception hall, sat down, and said: “I had planned to defer this conversation for a while, but since we’ve run into this situation now, it’s as good an opportunity as any to settle on a framework with the Asu family. What are you all staring at me for? There has been a murder — the killers have been captured. One got away. Question them and catch the one who got away, and that’s the end of it. The difficulty lies in determining which laws to apply.”

It took the others a moment to process what she had said. After a pause, Administrator Guan asked carefully: “Your meaning is — handle it as an ordinary murder case?”

Zhù Ying said: “Why wouldn’t it be? Tell me — what makes it not ordinary?”

Administrator Guan opened and shut his mouth: “Well… this… no, no, no — nothing, nothing. You are quite right.” In his heart he thought: Small wonder she’s the kind of person who can be granted a crimson robe by the capital — one sentence and she steps right over the most difficult part of the whole problem.

Zhù Ying said: “Where is the legal adjutant? Did none of them go to Western Township?” She swept the room with her eyes — all four legal adjutants were present, all of them aware of the matter and fretting over it.

The four of them shuffled quietly until Gao Shan was nudged forward from behind. He said: “Reporting, Magistrate — Zhao Su sent word that the criminals had been captured. We did not know how they should be handled and therefore did not go.”

Zhù Ying said: “Tomorrow you come with me to Western Township.”

“Yes.”

The remaining three exchanged quiet, relieved smiles — until one of them caught a kick from Gao Shan. Their small performance had been perfectly visible to Zhù Ying from her elevated seat, but she did not bother to call them on it. The matter genuinely wasn’t something they could handle. As for the one who had escaped — he was likely also a mountain slave. Expecting them to go up into the mountains and capture someone? They’d be sent as sacrificial offerings.

Zhù Ying asked: “Is there anything else?”

Administrator Guan said quickly: “No — nothing at all.”

Zhù Ying asked: “Have the common people been reassured?”

Administrator Guan said: “The common people are not in a panic.”

“If the merchants panic and spread rumors, that’s also bad. Put up a notice and declare publicly that it was a commercial dispute that escalated to violence, and that I will personally handle it. Tell them there is no need for alarm — people who travel the roads and know the world will have seen enough commercial disputes turn deadly. Go and invite Captain Ding as well — I have need of him.”

“Yes.”

Captain Ding had not yet arrived when Gu Tong and the others returned with the local gentry. Word had reached the more well-connected ones through merchant connections — there had been a killing — and they suspected this gathering was related to the incident.

When they arrived, they found most of the county’s officials also assembled. This left the gentry uncertain.

Zhù Ying looked around: “Is everyone here?”

Gu Tong said: “Everyone who was in the county seat has come. Zhao Su is currently in Western Township — he’s not here.” He knew the local gentry well enough to take a single look and account for everyone.

Zhù Ying held up two fingers: “Two matters. I had originally intended to discuss the wheat planting with all of you, but there is now a case that requires my personal attention. That matter will be delayed somewhat — fortunately the rice harvest is not yet in, so there is still time. That is the first matter. The second — as for your autumn harvest: have you made preparations against fire?”

Gu Weng said: “At harvest time, both men and women are out in the fields — any fire can be put out on the spot.”

Zhù Ying said: “That is not good enough.”

The gentry all hurriedly said: “We will do whatever the magistrate instructs.”

Zhù Ying said: “We must be prepared for deliberate arson. Here is what I propose: divide the farmland in every township and village into sections. When harvest is near, arrange for people to take turns keeping watch through the night, carrying a gong — if anything happens, strike it. That is defense. Beyond that, we must also have a plan in place, so that if there is a fire, there is no chaos. You are the county’s major households, and your landholdings are the largest — which is why I am calling you together. Bring the county maps!”

Her mastery of the county’s land surpassed that of any previous magistrate. She indicated areas on the county map and directed the revenue officer and others to observe as well: “Like this: all the land in a village is divided into sections — take the county outskirts as an example. Here, here, there, there — divide it into several blocks. If one block catches fire, do not rush to fight the fire. If you are afraid the fire will burn the crops, the thing to do is make sure there is nothing left for the fire to burn — strip a clear zone and the fire cannot cross. At harvest time, race to cut a belt of cleared ground so the fire cannot spread.”

Everyone nodded, with a certain underlying alarm: Would this really happen? Would the mountain people really be so bold?

Zhù Ying said: “Revenue officers — you several go through the household registers and land records and make a round of every township and village. Explain the situation, and the fire prevention and firefighting arrangements are to be carried out exactly as I have described. I will be checking!”

“Yes!”

Zhù Ying added: “And have all the village headmen and ward elders keep a sharp lookout for strangers.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Ying asked: “Any other questions?”

“That — that — that — what about… what about that murder case?” Gu Weng had been quieter lately, while Elder Zhang was growing rather more talkative.

Zhù Ying said: “Do you have information?”

“No, no, no, no.” Elder Zhang clutched both hands to his chest and shook them emphatically.

Zhù Ying nodded: “I see. Then prepare for what I’ve described. I’ll go settle the case and then we’ll return to the main business. Does anyone else have something to raise?”

The gathering all said no. Zhù Ying said: “Then disperse. Gao Shan, you travel with me tomorrow. Administrator Guan, remain at the county office.”

Tong Bo came running up: “Magistrate, Captain Ding is here.”

“Please show him in.”

Captain Ding passed the local gentry as they were leaving, glanced back at them a couple of times, and then strode inside. Zhù Ying rose to greet him: “Captain Ding, please sit.”

Captain Ding said: “What is it you need to say to me, Magistrate?”

Zhù Ying said: “I would not dare command you. Please sit and let’s talk it through.”

The two sat down. Zhù Ying said: “Does Captain Ding know there is a trading post in Western Township?”

“Ah — yes, I’ve heard of it. My wife bought some mushrooms and wild fowl through a reseller. Good eating in a stew.”

Zhù Ying thought: What is so good about wild game? Old stock, the meat is tough, and there’s a rank gamy smell. Domestic animals taste far better.

Aloud she said something rather different: “There was some trouble recently — blood was shed just the day before yesterday. I was thinking of asking Captain Ding to send some men over on the two market days each month, to lend an imposing presence and discourage any further misbehavior.”

Captain Ding said: “Why be so polite about it? The magistrate’s business is my business! How many men do you need?”

Zhù Ying said: “Twenty to start — on patrol duty. Three days per visit, room and board at my expense.”

“Oh no — that I cannot allow.”

Zhù Ying said: “This is no pleasant assignment. If anyone is found drinking while on duty, or brawling, Captain Ding must deal with it firmly.”

Captain Ding said with great seriousness: “Trust me — next time I’ll lead the men there myself.”

Zhù Ying said: “Then I must thank Captain Ding in advance.”

“Not at all, not at all.” Captain Ding accepted favors graciously. The truth was, day after day in the county seat and the garrison was wearing on him — he wouldn’t say the half of it, but even getting beaten by his wife occasionally — he was a bit starved for some excitement. Those thoughts he kept to himself.

Zhù Ying said: “I must also ask Captain Ding to come with me tomorrow for a first look, so you have a sense of the terrain. The matters concerning the Su clan have already been reported to the court — they cannot be treated as barbarians outside the law.”

Captain Ding said: “Don’t worry. We understand. Until the higher-ups give the order, we don’t go counting Su clan heads toward our tallies. Whoever causes trouble takes responsibility for it — everyone knows this.”

Zhù Ying said: “When you meet people of the Su clan, do not call them ‘mountain people.’ They are the Su clan.”

“Eagle clan? Do they have monkeys too?”

Zhù Ying laughed: “I’ll ask for you sometime.”

“That’ll do then.”

Zhù Ying kept Captain Ding to eat at the county office. Captain Ding said: “No — my wife the tigress has dinner waiting. If I dare not come back for it, she’ll eat me alive!”

Zhù Ying said: “Your sister-in-law cares about you.”

Captain Ding waved both hands vigorously: “I’m in no position to receive that kind of care. I’ll take my leave!”

Gu Tong finished escorting the gentry out and returned, nearly running into Captain Ding on his way out.

His near-falling out with Gu Weng and his subsequent self-installation at the county office had given the other gentry the impression that Gu Weng had intentionally sent him there. A few in-laws had grabbed Gu Tong’s hand and said things like “You’ve done well for yourself, boy,” while others told Gu Weng what fine “good fortune” he had — to have earned the county magistrate’s eye. Gu Weng received all of this with a smile that did not reach his eyes, wanting nothing more than to go home.

Gu Tong chatted with them at the gate until he had sent them all off one by one. By the time he returned, he had missed the whole exchange with Captain Ding. His heart itching with curiosity, he made three rapid strides and bounded to Zhù Ying’s side.

Zhù Ying said: “All sent off?”

“Yes.”

“Come — let’s go to the back for dinner.”

“Yes!” Gu Tong threw back the door curtain and asked simultaneously: “Teacher — is that all there is to it? And what about the murder case?”

“Teacher isn’t done yet. As for the case — naturally you handle a case as a case.”

“What if the mountain people — oh, I mean the Su clan — what if they cause trouble? I’ve always felt that this matter isn’t quite so simple. Even if the situation itself is simple, it’s the kind of thing that can easily be used against you. Otherwise Zhao Su wouldn’t have raced back home in such a panic.”

Zhù Ying said: “He is letting worry cloud his thinking. Since on the surface this is a murder case, we treat it on the surface as a murder case. If anyone tries to make capital of it beneath the surface, we compose our own piece beneath the surface and send it right back. Don’t panic.”

“Yes!” Gu Tong laughed — he liked this clean, decisive way of operating.

The two of them went to the back courtyard. Zhang Xiangu had accepted her fate — one adopted grandson had left, and now an apprentice-grandson had arrived. She called out: “Come — dinner is ready!”

Zhao Su had almost never eaten with the family here. Gu Tong was different — he had moved in — and Zhang Xiangu and Zhù’s father were both quite fond of this forthright, lively young man. Qi the young maidservant was not at liberty to share a table with a young man of his age, so she took her meal to eat with Qi Tai.

Zhang Xiangu said: “You just got back — go change your clothes first.”

Zhù Ying said: “No need — let me eat first. Oh, and by the way — tomorrow I have to go to Western Township again.”

Zhang Xiangu’s hands froze in the middle of serving rice: “What? You’ve barely been back a few days!”

Zhù Ying said: “It’s not far — I’ll be back in a few days.”

Gu Tong chimed in: “Don’t worry, Elder — I’ll go with Teacher and make sure she is properly looked after!”

Zhang Xiangu looked at him and thought: You’re a young man — your coming along does not reassure me in the slightest!

Zhù Ying said: “It’s a case.”

Zhang Xiangu sighed: “Oh.”

Zhù Da said: “Old Three — didn’t you say you were sending the legal adjutant? Why are you going yourself?”

“He can’t handle this one.”

“Oh.”

Gu Tong thought to himself: Families are all the same. The old folks all nag the same way. Though Zhang Xiangu and Zhù Da were somewhat better than his grandfather — his father was sometimes given to pompous posturing, and early on Gu Tong had been half-taken in by it, until he realized the man was all pose and no substance, and stopped being intimidated. His grandfather, on the other hand, genuinely made you keep your guard up — he was always pretending to mysterious inner depths, and he was after all one’s actual grandfather. He could spring unpredictably ugly little tricks that caught you entirely off guard.

If Gu Tong were to choose, he would still rather be with the Zhù family — it was easier.

After dinner, Zhù Ying said: “When did I say I was taking you with me? Don’t you have school?”

“Heh heh. This student has just changed tracks, hasn’t he? Handling cases — surely one must learn by watching, mustn’t one? You agree, don’t you, Teacher?”

Zhù Ying said: “You haven’t memorized your legal codes yet — there’s no benefit to you in jumping ahead to this.”

Gu Tong asked: “But why?”

Zhù Ying said: “What you’ve memorized is fixed and rigid — like a foundation, and foundations must be rigid. They absolutely cannot be flexible. What I am about to go do is fluid and responsive. It will interfere with your laying the foundation.”

Gu Tong said: “I’m not worried! I’ll just keep firmly in mind what is to be memorized, and that’s that.”

“Stay here and attend your classes properly. When I return, I will be testing you.”

Gu Tong pouted and tried a few rounds of wheedling, while Zhù Ying sat quietly watching his performance. After a while Gu Tong abruptly stopped performing and said: “Alright — can’t fool you. I’ll go to school tomorrow. Teacher, travel safely and come home soon. The family will be waiting.”

Zhù Ying was amused: “Noted. Off to bed with you.”

Gu Tong went back to the guest quarters in the rear courtyard with many a backward glance. Zhù Ying got the preparations for the following day in order, then returned to her room to rest. Zhang Xiangu had already prepared hot water for her. Zhù Ying said: “No hurry — I brought a few things back. You should look them over.”

Zhang Xiangu sighed: “All right. I’ll call Huajie.”

Zhù Ying had come back with some pearls — since the irregular ones had gone up in price she had not bought many, and had redirected some of the funds into gemstones instead. She set some aside and said: “Keep this portion. Lady Zheng in the capital was already visibly expecting when I saw her — probably five or six months along by then. By now she may well have given birth already.”

Huajie said: “There isn’t any decent silk or brocade to be found here. I’ve been scrounging for scraps of fabric these last two days — let me piece together a hundred-patch garment for the baby.”

Zhù Ying said: “That’s a wonderful idea! I’m poor, so I have to think of something different.”

Zhang Xiangu said: “Poor, and you’re still buying these treasures!”

Zhù Ying said: “You’re telling me! They even went up in price! Four times the price — I asked why, and apparently the palace has decided they’re beautiful mounted in settings and wants some as tribute. Infuriating!”

Zhang Xiangu said with surprise: “What? So they arrived at the same idea as you?”

Zhù Ying glanced at the top of her head and said: “Indeed. That pin on your head — it’s worth a hundred strings of copper cash.”

Zhang Xiangu didn’t know how to hold her head anymore. She immediately raised her hands and pulled the pin from her hair: “That much?!”

Zhù Ying nodded. Zhang Xiangu abandoned all further interest in talking about money, clutched the pin firmly, and went back to her room to put it safely away. Zhù Ying and Huajie stifled their laughter. Huajie said: “So you get first pick of this batch, don’t you?”

“They’ve already picked through it once — they took everything genuinely useful. If I can find a few good ones, I’ll count myself lucky.”

“Even one is fine — a hundred strings of cash, remember?” Huajie teased.

The two laughed again.

After putting away everything she had brought back, Huajie asked: “I heard someone died, and that it involves the Su clan — is it a big case?”

Zhù Ying spoke quietly of the matter, and ended: “I have always been watchful for opposition, and I have been careful not to press them too fast toward formal submission — I only wanted a loose tributary relationship so as not to provoke resistance. I had thought the major upheaval would come when Cave Chief Asu passed away, or when Su Yuan received her official appointment. It seems I was wrong to think so — the killing has come even now. So you all need to be careful in the county seat too. I have made some preparations, though.”

“What preparations?”

Zhù Ying explained the fire prevention measures and the village watch arrangements. Huajie said: “You think of everything so carefully and thoroughly. Even if something does happen, you’ll be able to deal with it well. Truly — I never would have thought of any of this.”

“I just imagine — if I were the one causing trouble, what would I do? Set a fire, for instance.”

Huajie said: “You always think ahead.”

Zhù Ying said: “Not always — not this time. I need to think this through properly.”

Simply defending against the threat was not enough — she needed to cut the problem off at its source. Zhù Ying resolved to have a serious talk with the Asu family. She had a broad conception of what to do with the “mountain people” as a whole — the overarching approach was loose tributary control, and since it was tributary control, they fell nominally under the court’s jurisdiction. Questions of population, household registration, applicable law — all of this would ultimately need to move in the direction of “unity.” She had not raised these points before because even winning formal court recognition and tributary status had not yet been accomplished.

Now that this murder case had fallen into her lap, there was no choice but to raise the question of applicable law with Cave Chief Asu and Su Yuan first. At the same time, she was already drafting in her head the outline of what she would memorialize to the court — the final draft would depend on how events unfolded from here.

Early the next morning, Zhù Ying set out with a party for Western Township. Captain Ding arrived as promised with two squad teams. The two groups joined together. Captain Ding said: “Good to finally get some air.”

Zhù Ying said: “We are making haste.”

“Don’t worry — these men can keep pace.”

They rode through the whole day and arrived at Western Township just as the light was failing. Zhao Su was personally waiting at the roadside: “Your child greets you, Adoptive Father. Adoptive Father, you have traveled hard.”

Zhù Ying said: “You’ve worked hard as well. Come — let’s talk as we walk.”

Zhao Su brought his horse alongside hers and — with one look confirming Gu Tong was not among the party — said in a low voice: “My maternal uncle has arrived. My cousin is already at our house. Three killers in total — two captured, one escaped. They all belong to my maternal uncle Ahun. Ahun used to have very close dealings with my father and mother. Of all people to do this — who could have expected him?”

“Could there be a misunderstanding? Could it be that someone else bribed his slaves?”

“My uncle questioned him personally — he admitted it.” Zhao Su said with some difficulty. Killing someone within one’s own settlement — that was a matter; killing someone on the outside was genuinely not considered a matter. Killing someone from an enemy clan was practically not considered a matter at all. This distant uncle had simply never regarded the people of the valley below as his own people — or rather, he felt the merchants from below had betrayed them.

Zhù Ying said: “Has the third killer been caught?”

“Yes. My uncle brought Ahun along as well.” Zhao Su felt a small measure of relief — this meant his maternal uncle was at least willing to maintain cordial relations with the court.

Zhù Ying said: “I also have matters to discuss with your uncle. Is he in a condition to meet? Is his health holding up?”

“He has been somewhat overtaxed. He is resting at the moment.”

While they spoke, the party arrived at the Zhao estate. Zhao Feng came out again to receive them, as did Zhao Niangzi and Su Yuan — the latter now back in men’s clothing, transformed once more into Su Mingluan.

Zhù Ying said: “A’Jie.”

Zhao Niangzi said: “You’ve finally come!”

Zhù Ying took a pearl-strung shoulder ornament from her sleeve and draped it over her shoulder, saying: “There is no obstacle that cannot be passed.”

Zhao Feng told Zhao Su to see to the guests’ accommodations. Zhù Ying said: “A’Jie — this is Captain Ding, the new garrison commander stationed here.”

Zhao Niangzi said with some surprise: “Oh?” She knew of Captain Ding, but why had he come to Western Township?

Captain Ding stepped forward and clasped his hands: “Don’t worry, ma’am. From now on when the trading post is open, I’ll be here — I guarantee there’ll be no more deaths.” In his heart he thought: That’s the magistrate’s second sister-in-law now. I wonder if there’ll be a third one making an appearance?

They had barely entered the gate when Cave Chief Asu, supported by “Elder Brother Tree,” came walking over. The siblings met, and after the usual exchange of greetings, Zhù Ying saw that Cave Chief Asu looked considerably more frail than at their previous meeting — his complexion was especially poor. She said: “Elder Brother — have you been too weary? Please go and rest.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “I had to come in person to explain this to you!”

He was genuinely worried. His son was reckless, still embroiled in some messy ongoing fight with the Liqi clan — while his daughter had been quietly developing, and had even come to him asking about how to grow wheat. The gains from raiding and hunting were unpredictable and the risks were high; traditional cultivation had always produced low yields and could not be fully depended upon either, nor were the risks always low. If yields could be made higher and more stable, Cave Chief Asu genuinely hoped his people could grow in a stable, sustained way.

He had also been thinking about the matter of the court’s formal appointment. His hope was that in the future, his family would be the ones to choose a worthy successor and petition the court for ratification — the court would give its approval. In other words: formal appointment was acceptable, but the court could not presume to decide for him. With an official appointment, even if — as Zhù Ying had obliquely suggested — a modest tribute was required, the backing of the court would make him feel secure. Things could then continue from generation to generation.

This kind of arrangement was something he absolutely could not afford to have ruined.

And fortunately, Zhù Ying was a person one could reason with. He hoped she would not simply assume — because “mountain people had killed ordinary subjects and merchants” — that this was open warfare between two peoples.

Zhù Ying opened her mouth and gave him a reassurance straight off: “An ordinary murder case — why are you treating it as if it were some tremendous affair?”

Cave Chief Asu said: “I fear that others will not see it that way. They will say that they are not of our people, that we share different blood, and that at bottom we are not of one mind.”

That sentiment undoubtedly existed. It was simply that no one dared say it to her face at the moment.

Zhù Ying said: “Since I have come, I will settle this matter with Elder Brother in a way that also establishes a precedent for what comes after. How does that sound?”

Cave Chief Asu was not in the least deterred by his exhaustion: “You speak — what kind of precedent do you have in mind?”

Zhù Ying said: “Elder Brother has already submitted to the court — which means we are on the same side. Would you agree?”

“Yes! I’ve brought the wretch here myself!”

Zhù Ying said: “Wait — I haven’t finished. Brother-in-law, shall we step inside and speak?”

Zhao Feng said: “The banquet has been set out. Please!”

The party went inside, and the formal conversation was deferred once again. Captain Ding and his men were settled into Zhao Feng’s estate as well, and were included in the dinner. Cups passed back and forth below.

Cave Chief Asu and Zhù Ying both abstained from wine. The two of them watched the conviviality below and began their own quiet conversation. Zhù Ying said: “I understand — profit one and you deprive another. It is to your brother-in-law’s credit that he has been large-minded about it and not complained to me — he has taken losses too.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “The last time we spoke, something you said has only now proved itself right. I simply cannot, for the sake of one man or one household getting fat on the pickings, lock down an entire settlement and allow trade to pass only through his hands. On this point, I will not change my position.”

Zhù Ying said: “If you simply went on living as you used to, you could still petition for a formal appointment. Your life would not be a bad one. It would only be somewhat harder for the people below you — and harder still for the slaves.”

Cave Chief Asu said: “I’ve thought about it. There are times when I want to give up. But if I let go, what becomes of the next generation? You have no malice — but the next clever person who comes along may not be the same. And even the person who orchestrated the death of my father and brothers — he too was very clever. Let one of those come along every so often, and we are like flowers planted in someone else’s garden — pruned every year, year after year. Grow, prune. Grow again, prune again. And so…” He sighed. “That is why I chose my little sister.”

Zhù Ying nodded: “Elder Brother helps me achieve my aims, and I must consider Elder Brother’s interests as well. Look — one case, and the rules that apply within the settlement are different from the rules that apply in the county. Should we not settle on a clear standard? Elder Brother knows the affairs of his own household inside and out — would it not be good to have them written down? Without a written record, things will be difficult to establish case by case in the future.”

Cave Chief Asu looked at her with a searching expression. Zhù Ying understood what was in his mind. She explained: “We need not make it public to outsiders — our own people need to have a clear basis, and we need a clear foundation when we speak to the court. For instance…”

She leaned close to Cave Chief Asu’s ear and said quietly: “Write it down and inform the court that little sister’s authority rests on law that exists within the Su clan — and what that law says, that is entirely for us to decide. Once it is written, it is fixed.”